Turbine control



Nov. 19, 1946.

A. E. VANDERSEE TURBINE com-1201..

Filed May 25, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet i flrkain'lmzmd Vanda/see l E3 a c Q TURBINE CONTROL Fiied May 25, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 720% Ed: wad Vanderaee ing rotation thereto,

Patented Nov. 19, 1946 TURBINE CONTROL Arnold E. Vandersee, Chicago,

111., assignor of one-half to Henry W. Dieringer, Chicago, Ill. Application May 25, 1944, Serial No. 537,292 I 7 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to a turbine'control. Specificailyjthe improvements are directed to means for controlling turbines such as used for feeding metal wire in metal spraying guns whereby the speed of travel of the wire. may be regulated to accommodate the machine for use with metal having diflerent'fusing points. Thus the machine has a wide range of utility depending upon the character of the metal wire. The present control permits the feed to be operated at a slow speed for metals with high fusion points and at a high speed for metals of comparatively low fusion points.

In the past it has been customary to obtain control in the speed of wire feed in a spray gun by means of the application of friction to the turbine. Alternatively, it has been the custom to vary wire feed speed by means of changing the pressure of the incoming, turbine driving fluid.

Certain disadvantages have attended the use of the foregoing methods of speed control. First;

since during the metal spraying operation, the turbine necessarily travels at a very high R. P. M., the application of friction to the turbine or an assdciated rotating part is attended by the disadvantages well known in such types of brake mechanisms. Specifically, it has been found that due to the high speeds at which the turbine travels when braking action is applied, the frictionally engaged parts rapidly wear with the result that they-must be replaced at frequent intervals.

Second; the reduction changing the speed of in speed of wire feed by rotation of the turbine through control of fiuid pressure results in a material decrease in the feeding forces when the pressure is so reduced. Under such circumstances, while the speed of the wire is thus controlled in the desired manner the force by which it is fed is greatly reduced. When it is considered that the wire is usually somewhat compressed during its feed between rotating knurled gripping wheels which are driven by the turbine, it will be seen that this reduction in force of the pressure fluid is attended by a loss of power of such magnitude that the force required to feed the wire is also lost.

It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide an improved, variable speed turbine including a plurality of sections that are associated to rotate in unison, one of said sections being arranged to receive a unidirectional stream of and the other of said sections being arranged to receive a stream of fluid pressure fluid for impartwhich may be impelled thereagainst from varying directions or at successively difierent angles thereby to augment the driving action of the first stream'or to hold the same to retard the speed of the turbine as driven by said first stream and said first section. V

It is one of the principal objects of this invention to simplify the construction of a turbine control such as contemplated herein, and to improve the eificiency, operation and dependability of such turbine control.

It is also one of the principal objects of this invention to provide control means, preferably utilizing a pressure fluid, that may be' discharged in a direction against a bladed control member to act as a brake thereon and retard the speed of rotation of a turbine that preferably drives the control member. In this connection the pressure fluid stream may be readily changed as to its direction of flow for the purpose of reducing the braking action against the turbine until such point where the pressure fluid stream is discharged against the control member in the direction of rotation of the turbine to thereby tend to increase the power output thereof.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a metal spraying machine with turbine control means whereby the metal wire may be fed at different speeds to the nozzle of the sprayer device. This arrangement permits the sprayer to be used with a variety of different kinds of metals merely by regulating the speed of the feed in accordance with the type of metal used.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a metal sprayer apparatus with control means that comprise a rotor for driving the wire and a brake member co-operating therewith and against which the stream of pressure fluid is directed in a manner to increase or diminish the speed of the turbine rotor.

It is also one of the objects hereof to provide control means for turbines wherein the pressure fluid that is employedto actuate or rotate the turbine is also utilized for the purpose of regulat ing the speed of the turbine rotor.

Additional objects, aims and advantages of the invention contemplated herein will be apparent to persons skilled in the art after the construction and operation of the turbine control is understood from the within description.

It is preferred to accomplish the numerous objects of this invention and to practice the improvements in substantially the manner hereinafter fully described and as more particularly explained in the claims. Reference is now made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof.

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical side or longitudinal elevation of a metal spraying apparatus showing the instrumentalities of the present invention installed thereon.

Figure 2 is a vertical edge elevation of the turbine housing with the upper portion broken away and with the control valve structure in vertical axial section on the plane of line 11-11 of taken at the plane of line V-V on Figure 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 6 is a plan, somewhat diagrammatic in form; of the transmission devices for driving the wire feed.

The drawings are to be understood as being more .or less of a schematic character and are for the purpose of disclosing a typical or preferred form of the improvements thatare contemplated herein. In these drawings like reference characters identify the same parts of the different views.

For the purposeoi disclosing a typical installation of this control device it has been shown in connection with a metal spraying apparatus but it will be understood that the principles hereof are applicable to other types of apparatus wherein a turbine is employed.

The metal spraying apparatus which is shown in longitudinal side elevation in Figure 1 comprises a body it at the front or forward end of which a head member H is secured. This head member is provided with a plurality of passageways (not shown) that are controlled by a valve 83 having an operating handle i i. The discharge nozzle i2 is suitably coupled to the forward face of the head H and is provided with passages for pressure fluid and for oxyacetylene gas or the like. There is a central bore through the nozzle for the metal wire it that is to be fused and sprayed. The wire is is fed through d ed across these apertures. wall 23 of the turbine chamber has a shouldered central opening 24 in it to receive antiirict'ion bearing members 25 for 'journalling the adjacent portion of the turbine shaft ZBthat projects into the housing in the manner shown in Figure 3.

The main body portion I9 is provided with a chamber 21? alongside the turbine housing 20 and there is a threaded opening 28 at the end of chamber 2? opposite the turbine housing in axial alignment with the shouldered opening 24. .The adjacent end of the turbine shaft 28 extends into this end opening 28 where it is received in anti-friction bearings 29 that are seated in a cap Bil screwed in the opening 28. The inner portion of the cap 30 is hollow and is provided with a shoulder 31 to press against the edge of one of the races of the anti-frictiondevice 2d and the adjacent portion of the shaft 25 is provided with a shoulder 32 to engage the adjacentedge of the other anti-friction race.

The portion of the shaft 26 within the housing at has a hub 33 secured to it by means of a nut 25a. screwed upon the threaded end of the shaft to urge the other edge of the hub against the anti-friction device 25 and thus press said device against an annular abutment 26a on shaft The hub 33 is a part of a rotor or wheel member which comprises a disk 51 having upon one side a plurality of turbine blades or impeller blades 3 These blades are preferably of innate shape, that is, they are concavo-convex in section as shown in Figure 5. The branch passageway ls receiving the pressure fluid from valve controlled passageway in the head ll discharges this fluid into the housing 20 directly the work faces of the impeller blades or The passageway i9 is disposed somewhat tangent to the blades 3 3 as will be seen in dotted lines in Figure 4 and in full lines in Figure 5. The force of the pressure fluid impinging upon the'blades against or flns 3 3 will rotate the turbine and the shaft' 26 upon which it is mounted. The turbine shaft 226 is provided, adjacent its bearings 29 with a worm 35 meshing with a worm wheel 36 on a shaft 37 disposed transverse to the axis of the a guide or channel Ida in the body by a suitable of the turbine where it is forked to provide two' branches is and 59 respectively. Air or other fluid under pressure is fed to the passageway I? from the valved head I l through the body member to drive the turbine. I

Referring to Figures 2 and 3 it will be seen that the turbine assembly comprises an openfaced cylindrical housing or casing 20 that is a part of the main body part 80 to provide a rotor chamber that is disposed with its axis transverse to the length of the metal spraying apparatus and the line of travel of the wire IS. The open face of the cylindrical casing is closed by a flanged removable cover 20a that is secured thereon to provide the outer exhaust wall of the chamber. This cover is provided with a plurality of apertures 2| and a screen 22 is mountturbine shaft 26 as shown in Figure 3.

A suitable power transmission means (Fig. 6)

operatively connects the shaft 31 to the wire driving means id to actuate the latter, whereby the wire is fed through guide 10a to the nozzle l2. One of the knurled feed wheels I8 is secured to the adjacent end of a countershaft 60 that carries a gear 6| close to said wheel and meshed with a corresponding gear preferably on the hub of the opposing-feed wheel.

' this counter shaft carries a worm wheel 62 that is driven by a worm 63 on the adjacent portion of the shaft 31. This arrangement drives the opposing feed wheels at the same speed to advance the metal wire to the nozzle l2.

The speed at which the driving means l6 feeds the wire is regulated and controlled by means of the instrumentalities embodying the present invention that permit the metal sprayer to be changed over from one type of wire to another merely by proper adjustment of the speed of the feed. The branch l8 from the fluid pressure passageway. ll leads into a valve seat 38 in a boss 39 on the lower segment of the turbine housing 20. A tapered valve body 40 is rotatably mounted in .the valve seat 38 with a threaded end portion of its stem 4| projecting through an end of the The other or inner The other end of boss, and a nut 42 screwed on this threaded portion bears against a washer 43 to hold the valve body snugly in the seat 38. The end of the stem opposite the clamping nut has an operating handle 44 for rotating the valve body in its seat 38. The valve seat 38 is longer than the body 40 of the valve to provide an annular inner chamber 45 at the end of the seat beyond the body that is. in communication with the adjacent end of the branch I 8. The valve body is provided with a longitudinally extending oblique bore 46, the' inner end portion of which communicates with the chamber 45 through the enlarged inlet port 41 of said bore 46. The other end of this valve bore 46 communicates with a transverse bore 48 that is preferably radially disposed and constitutes a stream-forming discharge port. The adjacent portion of the housing wall is provided with a fan-shaped slit 49,the longer portion of which extends circumferentially of the inner surface of the housing wall to provide a discharge mouth. The narrower portion of the mouth communicates with the stream-forming port 48 of the valve body. Thus there is free communication between the housing chamber and the axial bore'48 at all times. As shown in Figure 4, the inner or bottom walls of this fan-shaped slit are at a right angle to each other. The 'valve body has a radial pin 38a that limits the rotation of the valve to 90 of a circle. Thus the stream of pressure fluid may be directed from streamforming port 48 in any direction within the limits of the slot 49.

The valve body and the communicating slit 49 comprise a portion of the control device of the present invention. Another or co-operating portion of the control device comprises a plurality of radially disposed fins or paddles 50 disposed in an annular row upon the disk SI of the turbine wheel. These paddles 50 are preferably made integral with the disk 5|, and they are, all'connected to each other by an annular web or lateral 6 f wise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention: 1. In a turbine drive mechanism, a housing providing a cylindrical chamber; a turbine member rotatable in said chamber; means for driving said turbine; control blades carried by said a turbine; *said housing having a passageway admitting pressure fluid into said chamber ad- Jacent said control blades; a longitudinally bored rotatable valve at the outlet end of said passageway having a radially disposed discharge port, said pressure fluid passageway having a mouth portion confronting said control blades and adapted for registration with said valve discharge port in changed positions of said port for varyin the direction of flow of the pressure fluid with respect to said control blades to thereby modify the rotational speed 01' said turbine.

2. In a turbine drive mechanism, a housing providing a cylindrical chamber; a turbine in said chamber; a shaft rotatably supporting said turbine; a rotatably supported speed control member driven by said turbine; a passageway in said housing for discharging pressure fluid into said chamber to constantly drive said turbine;

and pressure fluid discharge means arranged to direct pressure fluid against said control memher from one or the opposite direction relative the urge of said pressure fluid to the direction or travel thereof, said discharge means including a regulator device for varying upon said. speed control member thereby to vary the speed of said turbine.

3. In a turbine drive mechanism, a rotatable member having a plurality of impeller blades, a

' plurality of control paddles carried by said roflange 52. As seen in Figures 4 and 5 the paddles '5!) correspond in number and arrangement with body 40 permits the stream of pressure fluid to be discharged through the stream-forming port 48 at any angle within the limits of the fanshaped mouth 49 and the pressure fluid thus discharged will travel toward and will impinge upon the paddles 50 of the control device. When the valve body is in the position shown in Figure 4 the pressure fluid will travel in a direction to impinge upon the trailing faces of paddles 50 thereby to urge the control device in the same direction of travel as the turbine is moving as indicated by the arrow in Figure 4. When the discharge port 48 is at the other limit of'its movement or uppermost in Figure 4 the pressure fluid stream will-impinge upon the leadin faces of the paddles 50 to retard rotation of the wheel which will hold back or act as a brake upon the turbine. In intermediate positions, the port 48 will discharge the fluid in adirection so that it is proportionately less effective than when it is in its above mentioned extreme position.

It will, of course, be understoodthat various details of construction maybe varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore. not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherproviding a cylindrical chamber, a turbine mem-' ber rotatable in said chamber, means for ldrivtatable member, fluid pressure means for rotating said impeller blades and means independent of said fluid pressure means for directing pressure fluid against said control paddles variably and progressively from opposite directions to progressively vary the speed of rotation of said control member, said variation of speed of said control member being eflective to vary the rotational speed of said rotatable member under the influence of the pressure fluid.

4. In a turbine drive mechanism, a rotatable turbine including a plurality of impeller blades,

a plurality of control paddles carried by said turbine, a common source of pressure fluid, means constantly .directing the pressure fluid against said impeller blades to rotate said turbine and move said control paddles in unison therewith and other means independent of said means for directing the pressure fluid against said impeller blades for directing a stream of the pressure fluid against said control paddles, said other means .being adjustable progressively to change. the direction of flow of the pressure fluid stream against said paddles from one to the other side thereof for varying the speed of movement of said paddles and correspondingly progressively varying the rotational speed of said turbine under the'in- I fluence of said pressure fluid.

5. In a turbine drive mechanism, a housing ing said turbine at a fixed predetermined rate, control paddles carried by said turbine, and means independent of said turbine driving means for admitting pressure fluid into said chamber to impinge upon said control paddle,'said means including a shiftable discharge port adapted to progressively vary the line of approach or said pressure fluid with respect to said paddles from one .to the other side thereof for varying the rotational speed of said turbine member under the influence of said turbine driving means.

6. In a turbine drive mechanism, a housin providing a cylindrical chamber, a turbine in said chamber, said turbine including impeller blades and having control paddles, a shaft assembly separating said turbine; a passageway in said housing for discharging pressure fluid into said chamber and against said impeller blades to constantly drive said turbine and pressure fluid discharge means independent of said first-named passage arranged to direct a stream of pressure fluid against said control paddles during flow of said driving pressure fluid, said discharge means including a regulating valve having a discharge port, said valve being adapted for rotation to progressively vary the angle of the pressure fluid stream emitted therefrom with respect to the rotational axis of said control paddles to augment or oppose the rotation thereof by said turbine,

such change oi! angle being eflected' thereby to vary the speed of said turbine.

'7. In a turbine drive mechanism, a chamber, a rotatable member rotatably mounted in said chamber and having a plurality of vanes extending outwardly therefrom to receive fluid pressure directed thereagainst to actuate said rotatable member, fixed means for directing a drive fluid against said vanes to drive said rotatable member, and movable means independent of said fixed means for directing a stream of control fluid .against said vanes for controlling rotation of said rotatable member as driven by the fluid from said fixed means, said movable means being mounted to be variably and progressively shifted to alter the direction of emission of the fluid therefrom from opposite directions to impinge on one side or the other of the vanes to augment or counteract the efieot of the driving fluid emitted from said fixed means. 

